Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Narrowly Escapes Death

SomaliPresidentMohamed Abdullahi Mohamed escaped last Saturday after the Nasa-Hablod hotel, where he was scheduled to hold a political meeting, was attacked by the terrorist group Al-Shabab.

No less than 27 people were killed and more than 30 injured. According to Abdiasiz Ali Ibrahim, spokesman for the Ministry of Security, five armed men stormed the establishment. Three attackers were captured alive and two others blew themselves up after being hit by bullets, police commander Mohamed Hussein said.

The Islamist al-Shabab group, which claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, said the attack killed 40 people, including three of its fighters.

Speaking to the Associated Press by telephone, Captain Mohamed Hussein said more than 20 people, including government officials, were trapped as security forces fought against extremists on the top floor of the building. hotel. Two of the five attackers were killed on the first floor, Hussein said.

The others threw grenades and cut the building’s electricity at dusk. A Reuters witness heard a loud explosion and smoke formed on the stage. Ambulance sirens could be heard.

The attack comes two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a bomb attack on a street in Mogadishu, the worst attack in the country. Al-Chebab often targets high-risk areas of Mogadishu. Since the explosion two weeks ago, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has traveled to other East African countries to ask for more support in his fight against the extremist group.

The Shebab have sworn to the loss of the fragile Somali central government, backed by the international community and the 22,000-strong force of the African Union (Amisom). They were expelled from Mogadishu in August 2011 and then lost most of their strongholds.